Danza The Comedian

June 9, 1985|By Crosby Day

TONY DANZA, who stars in the ABC sitcom Who's the Boss, said he wants to try his hand at being a stand-up comic. ''It's a different kind of rush,'' said Danza. ''I have this urge to tell jokes. I've always trusted my spontaneity, but I think I can hit home runs with prepared material, too.'' Why bother? Because Danza said he has never met a challenge he doesn't like. ''I want to see if I can do it,'' he said. ''I could play it safe, but I don't like doing that. It's kind of scary, but I get a big charge from getting laughs like that. . . . It all has to do with a need to succeed.''

MATH SHOW PLANNED

THE CORPORATION for Public Broadcasting has announced that it will commit about $3 million to a new daily television show to help 8- to 10-year-olds develop a mania for math. The program, which is still untitled, is scheduled to debut in the fall of 1986 or January 1987 and will run in an after-school time slot. The corporation, which distributes federal money for educational broadcasting, said it will give Children's Television Workshop up to $3 million to produce the series. Federal agencies, foundations and major corporations are being asked for an additional $11 million. The workshop is responsible for such public television mainstays as Sesame Street; 3-2-1 Contact, a science series; and The Electric Company, a reading show.

MINISERIES IN WORKS

TREAT WILLIAMS, who had the title role in the 1983 CBS movie Dempsey, has been signed to star in the title role of the NBC miniseries Hemingway. The six-hour miniseries, which is scheduled to begin production in July in Pamplona, Spain, will be televised during the spring of 1986. The drama is based on the life of the Pulitzer Prize-winning author, Ernest Hemingway, who wrote such classics as For Whom the Bell Tolls, A Farewell to Arms and The Old Man and the Sea. Williams also co-starred with Ann-Margret in the 1984 ABC remake of Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire.

SOAP FAMILY TREE

PROCTER & Gamble Productions, which produces the daytime soap Guiding Light, has published a brochure that includes a family-tree chart of characters on the show and color photos of most cast members. A free copy of the brochure can be obtained by writing to: Guiding Light Brochure, P.O. Box 599, Cincinnati, Ohio 45201. An official at P&G said that the company will provide one brochure per letter. Guiding Light is televised weekdays at 3 p.m. on WCPX-Channel 6.

TAP DANCE TAPE

BONNIE FRANKLIN, star of One Day at a Time, makes her video debut in a tap dancing instructional videocassette called ''Let's Tap.'' The 90-minute cassette will be released this month on the Karl-Lorimar Home Video label. The suggested retail price is $39.95. Franklin first appeared on TV at age 9, tap dancing with Donald O'Connor on the Colgate Comedy Hour. She has several dancing roles to her credit including Applause and No No Nanette. She taught tap at the age of 12 and resumed teaching at the conclusion of One Day at a Time. ''Let's Tap'' teaches the novice dancer the fundamentals of tap for enjoyment and exercise.

OFFICIAL FOUL UP

THERE ARE red faces at the White House over a get-well card sent with a presidential seal to Augusta Lockridge of Santa Barbara, Calif. Lockridge, as fans of NBC's soap Santa Barbara know, is the character played by Louise Sorel who was blinded in an accident. When the White House press office was contacted to find out whether the president or the first lady are fans of the soap, press officer Mark Weinberg said: ''The White House receives a large number of requests to send get-well cards for a variety of circumstances. We accept the request in good faith and we don't have the staff to verify each one. If a mistake has been made, it's on the requesting end.'' An NBC press release about the Reagans' card, quotes Sorel as saying: ''I was very flattered to have received such a nice note. I will always cherish it.''